Two fresh cases of Covid-19 –one each from Ranchi and Jamtara– were reported on Wednesday, taking the total count of coronavirus cases in Jharkhand to 107, health officials said. Only four new cases of the lethal viral infection have surfaced in State in the past two days – a major relief for the health machinery here after 35 cases reported on Sunday and Monday, health officials said.
“One suspect tested positive for Covid-19 in Jamtara today (Wednesday). Another man from Ranchi's Hindpiri also tested positive,” said Health Secretary Nitin Madan Kulkarni. The Hindpiri man who tested positive on Wednesday is 54-year-old, health officials said.
Wednesday's test results took the total number of cases in Ranchi to 78. As per records with the health department, out of the 106 cases in Jharkhand, 78 are from Ranchi alone – a district with 15 containment zones and rapidly growing cases of coronavirus infection. Out of the remaining 29 cases, 10 are from Bokaro, three each from Hazaribag, Garhwa and Palamu.
Two each from Simdega, Dhanbad, Jamtara and Deoghar, and one each from Giridih and Koderma. The figures are as per the daily Covid-19 bulletin released by National Health Mission (NHM).
While the Covid-19 trajectory has witnessed a steep fall after an unprecedented rise, the spread of the virus in rural areas is a cause for concern, health officials said.
Besides urban areas, the virus has entered Bero in suburban Ranchi, villages in Jamtara, Bokaro and Simdega. Ranchi alone accounts for more than 70 per cent of Covid-19 cases in Jharkhand. Out of the 106 cases, 77 are from Ranchi alone.
The Government has identified 15 containment zones in the State capital. Hindpiri –the coronavirus hotspot of the State– is the only large containment zone here. Besides, there is also a containment zone in Bundu, which is located off the National Highway 33, connecting Ranchi to Jamshedpur.
A 22-year-old Malaysian woman, who attended the Tablighi Jamaat congregation in New Delhi, is said to be the first carrier of the virus in the locality. She was apprehended along with 17 other foreign nationals from the locality last month. Two of them –the Malaysian woman and a man from Trinidad– had tested positive. However, the woman later tested negative, officials said.
Over 80,000 people were put in home quarantine here and around 10,000 were sent to Government quarantine centres.
Out of the total 107 patients, 42 are in the age bracket of 11 to 30 years – a trend that highlights how young people were as prone to the infection as older adults, officials said.
